Foster vs. Orphan — What's the Difference?

To bring up; nurture

An orphan (from the Greek: ορφανός, romanized: orphanós) is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them.In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usually relevant (i.e.

To promote the growth and development of; cultivate

A child whose parents are dead.

To nurse; cherish

A child who has been deprived of parental care and has not been adopted.

Providing parental care and nurture to children not related through legal or blood ties

A young animal that has been prematurely separated from its parents or its mother.

Receiving parental care and nurture from those not related to one through legal or blood ties

One that lacks support, supervision, or care

Providing parental care to children not related to oneself.

A technology or product that has not been developed or marketed, especially on account of being commercially unprofitable.

Receiving such care.

(Printing) A very short line of type at the bottom of a paragraph, column, or page.

Related by such care.

Deprived of parents.

A foster parent.

Intended for orphans

(uncountable) The care given to another; guardianship.

Lacking support, supervision, or care.

(transitive) To nurture or bring up offspring, or to provide similar parental care to an unrelated child.

Being a technology or product that is an orphan.

(transitive) To cultivate and grow something.

To deprive (a child or young animal) of a parent or parents.

(transitive) To nurse or cherish something.

A person, especially a minor, both or (rarely) one of whose parents have died.

To be nurtured or trained up together.

A person, especially a minor, whose parents have permanently abandoned them.

To feed; to nourish; to support; to bring up.

A young animal with no mother.

To cherish; to promote the growth of; to encourage; to sustain and promote; as, to foster genius.

(figuratively) Anything that is unsupported, as by its source, provider or caretaker, by reason of the supporter's demise or decision to abandon.

To be nourished or trained up together.

(typography) A single line of type, beginning a paragraph, at the bottom of a column or page.

Relating to nourishment; affording, receiving, or sharing nourishment or nurture; - applied to father, mother, child, brother, etc., to indicate that the person so called stands in the relation of parent, child, brother, etc., as regards sustenance and nurture, but not by tie of blood.

(computing) Any unreferenced object.

A forester.

Deprived of parents (also orphaned).

United States songwriter whose songs embody the sentiment of the South before the American Civil War (1826-1864)

Remaining after the removal of some form of support.

Promote the growth of;

(transitive) To deprive of parents used almost exclusively in the passive

Bring up under fosterage; of children

To make unavailable, as by removing the last remaining pointer or reference to.

Help develop, help grow;

A child bereaved of both father and mother; sometimes, also, a child who has but one parent living.

Providing or receiving nurture or parental care though not related by blood or legal ties;

Bereaved of parents, or (sometimes) of one parent.

To cause to become an orphan; to deprive of parents.

A child who has lost both parents

Someone or something who lacks support or care or supervision

The first line of a paragraph that is set as the last line of a page or column

A young animal without a mother

Deprive of parents

Deprived of parents by death or desertion